Paterson Workers Rally for Fair Contract After Years Without Raises

Members of AFSCME Local 3724 packed the council chambers in Paterson, Tuesday night to demand movement on a contract that has been stalled for years, voicing frustration with the City’s failure to settle the contract. After years of negotiations, the City has repeatedly moved the goalposts by changing terms that had already been agreed to. 

Local 3724 President Larice Tucker addressed the council on behalf of more than 200 members whose contract expired on December 31, 2022. The union represents the largest group of civilian employees in the city, including clerks, inspectors, IT staff, records workers, court staff, health and human services employees, and many others who keep city operations running.

According to the union, after months of difficult negotiations, they reached an agreement with the City on wages and retiree benefits for new hires. However, after agreeing to these conditions, when the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was drafted the City added additional provisions that had been repeatedly rejected by the bargaining committee during negotiations, including provisions related to out-of-title pay and additional duties. In addition, the City reduced the already agreed upon wage offer.

For workers who have already gone years without raises, this conduct by the City is infuriating and has pushed negotiations to an impasse.
“We have been in negotiations since our contract ended in 2022,” Tucker told council members. “Our members are the lowest-paid employees in the City of Paterson, and we have not had a pay increase since 2023. But the cost of everything else has gone up insurance, rent, electricity, food and gas.”

Tucker emphasized the essential role Local 3724 members play in city government, describing them as the “boots on the ground” who keep the city functioning.

“No matter if it’s our security, inspectors, clerks, IT, records, purchasing, personnel, taxes, OEM, sewer, cell block, health and human services, municipal court, or the staff who run these meetings in the city clerk’s office, we have major input in this city,” Tucker said. “We may not have the arsenal of the police department or the bravery of firefighters running into burning buildings, but we are heroes in our own right.”
She also honored a late colleague who died while serving the city, dedicating the moment to Jacoba Bouier and reminding officials that workers have “given our blood, sweat and tears for this job.”

AFSCME NJ members are now asking the city council to help bring the agreement to completion after two different business administrators in the past

 year told them the state had rejected earlier versions of the deal.

“We understand the city’s need for state aid,” Tucker said. “But we don’t get a say in selling our souls.”

Closing her remarks, Tucker urged council members to help secure the wages workers say they have already earned. “As I’ve said, we are the boots on the ground,” she said. “At this point, our feet are bare, and it’s time for new boots.”